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Twins Hanna and Haley Cavinder were two of the biggest stars in all of college sports in 2022-23.
The duo, who have more than 4.5 million followers on TikTok, played a big role in leading the Miami Hurricanes to their first ever women’s Elite Eight.
But it wasn’t the easiest road to get there.
The twins transferred to Miami from Fresno State thanks in large part to a massive NIL deal from Canes megadonor John Ruiz.
In late February, the NCAA hit Miamia with sanctions due to the recruitment of the Cavinders,
University of Miami women’s basketball coach Katie Meier violated NCAA rules by facilitating impermissible contact between two prospects and a booster, the NCAA’s Division I Committee on Infractions (COI) announced.
The violation was due to a dinner hosted by Ruiz prior to the twins signing for Miami.
NEWS: In its first NIL infractions ruling, NCAA sanctions Miami WBB for violations in the recruitment of Haley & Hanna Cavinder.
As recruits, Cavinders dined at booster John Ruiz’s home. Ruiz’s tweet that night drew NCAA attention
From @ByPatForde & me – https://t.co/84AVs5ZJzO pic.twitter.com/hzK6G1BW9A
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) February 24, 2023
At the time, Cavinders released a TikTok responding to the charges.
And Ruiz threatened to sue the college sports governing body over the ruling.
“The main gist of it is I’m not a booster. Therefore, the categorization of me as a booster is legally incorrect. There has already been an agreement in place. I think the university could petition them back to shorten the probation period,” he told On3 Sports.
The Cavinder twins have since graduated from Miami and plan to pursue opportunities beyond the college sports landscape, perhaps in part due to the NCAA charges.
But they didn’t leave without posting one last diss toward the governing body.
@cavindertwins
“Us calling the NCAA to see if we are allowed to graduate,” the caption reads over a video of the duo in white dresses handing a phone to one another.
The video, of course, is poking fun at the NCAA coming after the twins.
It’s hard to imagine anybody with the NCAA was all that happy to see them mocking its power. But now that they’re no longer college athletes, it’s not like the NCAA could do anything even it wanted to.